Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene combined to give Sri Lanka control on the third day of the second Test against Pakistan in Colombo after Rangana Herath took a careeer-best 9/127.

Sangakkara finished the day with an unbeaten 121-ball 54, while Jayawardene was one run short of a half-century himself as the hosts reached 177 for two. Their lead of 165 runs at the halfway stage owes as much to Herath's exploits, though, as the spinner continued to cause havoc to Pakistan to almost single-handedly dismantle their batting order.

Sarfraz Ahmed reached 103 for the visitors before falling to the red-hot Herath, but none of the tail-enders could offer much resistance as they were all out for 332, taking a slender 12-run lead.

Day 4 Pitch Report : 'Plenty of wear and tear'

"The cracks are developing nicely. There is plenty of wear and tear on the surface. Pakistan needs to get some quick wickets in the morning. Chasing anything more than 280 will be almost impossible," said Dean Jones.

Injury update : Junaid unavailable

News emerged before the start of play that Junaid Khan was still suffering from concussion and will not take the field today as well. He was said to be OK but was yet to completely recover from the blow on his grill while batting.

Update : Fifty for Mahela

Mahela Jayawardene brought up his 50th Test fifty in style with a boundary off Saeed Ajmal in the second over of the day. This was after Kumar Sangakkara had scored a couple off Wahab Riaz in the opening over, which helped the pair raise their 19th century stand in Tests, one behind leaders Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid.

Wickets : Ajmal strikes to send back set pair

Ajmal struck off consecutive overs to remove Sangakkara and Mahela. The left-hander was the first to depart, getting out on 59 in the 67th over when he handed a catch to Azhar Ali while trying to defend a delivery that bounced a bit more. Mahela, who had earlier survived a close shout for caught-behind, became Ajmal's second scalp. He came down the track and attempted a lofted chip in the 69th over, but did not connect properly and ended up giving a catch to Ahmed Shehzad at mid on to depart on 54. A misty-eyed Mahela walked back for the last time as the crowd gave him a standing ovation.

Wicket : Thirimanne continues to struggle

Lahiru Thirimanne's less than impressive recent run continued as he was out for 10 to Saeed Ajmal. The wicket was beautifully set-up by the off-spinner. Thirimanne was lured in complacency with a couple of regular off-spinners, before a Ajmal revealed his doosra to castle the left-hander. Sri Lanka went in at Lunch at 234/5.

Wickets : Wiaz double rattles hosts.

Wahab Riaz helped the visitors put themselves in a superb position with a double wicket blow that saw Dickwella and Perera depart in the same over.

Sri Lanka lost Dhammika Prasad, run-out for 19, and Rangana Herath, bowled by Riaz for 0, to leave SL at 282/9. They will be hoping to get the last wicket as soon as possible and give themselves a realistic chance of chasing down SL's total.

Welegedara was soon out, run-out for a duck, as Sri Lanka set the visitors a tricky target of 271 runs.

Dhammika Prasad put the home side on course for victory as he had both the Pakistan openers, Manzoor and Shehzad, out in quick succession to leave them tottering at a precarious 21/2.

Wicket : Pakistan slide further as Ali departs

Azhar Ali too feel cheaply to leave the Pakistan side in further distress. The right-hander was out to Rangana Herath in only his 2nd over. This was Herath's 10th wicket of the match. He went one better soon after as the left-armer had Pakistan's captain Misbah ul Haq out caught by Jayawardene, his 205th in Tests.

The situation kept getting worse for the visitors as Younis khan departed soon after, LBW to Herath, to leave Pakistan in deep trouble.

Update : Shafiq, Ahmed keep SL at bay

Asad Shafiq and Sarfraz Ahmed shared a fine 50-run stand to defy the Pakistan bowlers and give their side a smidgen of hope, chasing 271 to win. The duo helped Pakistan cross the 100-run mark without further setbacks.

Wicket : Herath strikes again

Rangana Herath was having a storming match already, and he only further emphasized that as he had Shafiq out stumped to leave Pakistan in tatters at 105/6.

Dilruwan Perera got into the act soon after, outfoxing Abdur Rehman with a straighter delivery. The tail-ender shouldered arms hoping the ball would spin away, but it hit plumb in front of the wickets.

Stumps were called soon after leaving the homeside needing 3 wickets on the final day to complete a series sweep.